Manure-spreader.



G. W. CRANE.

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, i907.

aented Deo. 29, 1908.

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Suben Foz @302:9 6W Cra/e rGr. W. RANE.-

MANURE SPBEADEB. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 14, 1907.

Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

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5 nm/Hoz Crane GeafgeW witnesses f J' G. W. CRANE.

MANURE SPR APyLIoATIoN FILED .TUNE 14, 1907.

BADER.

Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

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mu m .Q91 tmcaocb f ffzf/ G. vv'. CRANE. MANURB SPEEADER. APPLICATIONIILBD JUNE 14, 1907.

908,207. Patented Dee. 29, 1908.

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Lvbnmo 1 wcm lfoz Gear 6W Cram e GEORGE W. CRANEF VEEDERSBURG, INDIANA.l

`MANFURESRRLEADER.

To all whom imag/'convenu' Be it known that I, Gnoaon W.1=CRAN-a, aacitizen .of the ,United lStates, resid-ing at Veedensburg, inrthe conntyof lFountain and State of indiana, .have invented cer-.tain

new andnseful @Improvements in .Manu-re- Spreaders, ,of which .1. thefollowing isia specilcation.

ltacb'ed to' .-av boxk :may be used :for ordinary transporting purtion.of the wveightof the manure -will be temporarily'supportedindependently ofthe feeding meehamlsm.v

A further-object :oflny invention islto so construct thel variousVoperating parts that 'theyfm-ay readil :befdetaohed frome-and'fat-.softhat the said .boa-:bed

poses .A further object .of my invention `is to produce suchimprovements in details of con-- struction :as willbe :hereinafterpointed out.

.The .aceompanying drawings illustrate .my inventiomr 'Eiguruilis aiisde`.elevation of any iiiproved-structure;.iEig. f2 is a plan; Fi 3.a

detail of thezzdrving mechanism; Fig. 6a

side' eele-vation of ga lmodified spreading de? vice; Fig. Y.7, :a plan,Eig. .8,.det`ails, and lFig. 9 .a detailoftheadjusting. means lforbar 82;l Fig. l 1a....detail. of the connection between the side bars and.inner end :barof the Vre.

movable spreader supporting frame.

@In the drawings 10 indicates aanbrdinary :running gear .of .a bon-bedwagon provided .withf'front .and rea-r -bolsters 1l. Mounted `upon theseholsters are Aremovable brackets 12 upon which .the bottom 13 of thebox-bed is :adapted to rest somewhat above the topl of thebolsters inorder to form a passage wayfor the .feeding belt. Each bracket 12 'isprovided at its :base with a pair of depending.; lips l2 which straddlethe 'bolster ll", and aft its upper' end is provided with a paar"ofhorizontally projectile@ fingers 12 adapted to stradd-e the verticerpests -of the bolster, .t hearrangement being .such-.that `thevbjracluets maybe readily-removed but also sach that they will stay putwhen in position Specification of Letters'Patent. .AppneannnfmedJuneifi, 1907. '.seriain. 379,019.

PatentedDec. 29, 1968.

I sbowniin Figi. .The eboxfbed is .composed ,of fbottoml3, the sideslll-:14, the frontend board-15 .and the, rear end l.board .16.:l.II-nor- .der :that .the front and .rea-r .boards .Ina-y fbe .readilyremoved so .as to'perinit the insertion :ofotlier similar boards whenthe .spreading attachment-is not in use,-I secure .toeach end ofeachside board acasting 17 havingam inturned lip or iange 17 which liesfasufijcient distanceffrom theend fof-the sideboard e5 to .permit theinsert-ion of the Vendnboard. Secured tothe frontboard are'twodependingfbrackets 18in^which is journaled a shaft v19 lcarrying an.idler wheel or-roller 20 over which passes-aai endless feeding belt21,' the upper side l-of said belt lying .-upan and adapted to traversethe. bottom 1350i the ,bed while :the :lowerzside of .said 'belt passes:beneath said .bottom -13Hand .over the' tops of `'the holsters 11.Rest-i the -rear crossbar 13 of the .bed are: ars-25 and thefrontfendsof these bars-.arefco-nnected by a cross-piece 26 adapted to`gpass beneath the bottom 13 of the bed, thus holding the -sidebars25.in position. vBar 26de detachably connected to .the innerendsbf bars.by .bolts 25 which bolts also pass through and hold in position a.bracket 25 adapted to be bolted V4to" the sidenfa Wagon .bed,.a.bolt100passing through a slot vlill formed .in .said-.bracket so .that Vthevfranse .maybe longitudinally adjusted and heldin .any .desiredposition. Therear .ends ofthe siilebars 25 areconnected. by .across bar27.

Mounted .upon bars `.25 are bearing brackets 2'8in which .is journaledshaft 29 carrying wheel .orarollerO ,over which the conveyer 21 passes..fSecured to bars 25 is :a crossboard 32tadapted to vfori-n .acontinuation of the .bottom 13 of the wagon bed, the gap is adapted tobe engaged by a friction wheel 35, the two wheels being .carried by ashaft 36' jonrnaled in suitable bearings in .brackets .37 4pivotallysupported .at :their upper-fende onthearms 25. 'In'.orderto'fhold thewhel '.35 against'wheels 10 I'provide,i on'each side of the vehicle, achai 38 provided 'at its rear adapted tobe operated. by a ratchet lever43,

the-arrangement of the shaft 41 and crank 40 being such that a halfrotation of theshaft from the position shown in Fig, 1 will take up alltte slack in chain 38 and further vrotation of shaft 41 will cause thechain to wrap around said shaft and thus permit any desired tension tobe readily applied to the springs 39. The pull of chains 38 on levers 37tends to shift arms 25 to the rear end thus tighten carrier 21, and whenthe desired tension in said carrier has been reached, brackets 25',carried by arms 25, are bolted to the side boards 14, as shown in Fig. 1. Secured to shaft 36 is a gear wheel 45 meshed with a gear 46carried` by a crank shaft 47, the cranks 48 whereof are connected bypitmen 49 to the shaking distributing table 50. The

l' forward end of thel table 50 is pivotally sup- --ported by links 51and said forward end. ex-

tends beneath they rear end of the conveyer 21 so as to receive themanure delivered therefrom. The rear end of the table 50 is supported bydepending swinging links 52 the upper ends ofx which are pivotally at jtached to the crossebar 27.

In order to support the greater portion of manure and thus relieve thecarrier 21 from the load thereof, I provide a false bottom;

for the-receptacle, said false bottom composed primarily Aof a pluralityof pivotally supported slats each of which is provided at each end witha bracket having a pivotal connection 61 with 'a bracket 62 adapted tobe fastened to the front and rear boards 16. The. several slat brackets61 are connected at each end by links 63 and an o erating lever 64 isprovided at the forwar end so that the slats 60 may be tilted from thehorizontal and thus permit a limited quantity of the body of manure' topass between said slats and fall upon the conveyer 21. I also prefer toprovide, along each side of the main bed, an inwardly anddownwardlyinclined supporting member 65 which is carried by the lowerends of several hangers 66 the upper ends 66 of which are adapted tohook over the upper edges of the sides 14 of the wagon bed, thearrangement 'being such that the members 65 may be readily attached anddetached.

In order to further disintegrate the manure as it passes from the mainbed, I prolvide a harrow 70 which is hinged at its for- @ward upper edgeto the back board 16 by a hinge 70. This harrow 7 0 is provided with'downwardly projecting teeth 71 beneath which the manure is carried bytheconveyer 21 and said harroifj is .adjustably held in position bymeans 'f a chain 72 the upper end of which is attached to one arm of alever 73, pivotally mounted upon the upper edge of back board 16, theother arm of said lever 73 being connected by link 74 with an adjustinglever 7 5` held in desired position of adjustment by segment 76.

shown in Fig. 5.

supported upon slats 60 and said ,slats may there will be a continualtendency ofthe nianure to move downward on the carrier 21. Said carrieris driven in the direction indicated by the arrow by a forward movementof manure from the main body back beneath harrow 70 and discharges thesame upon the spreading table 50. The reciprocation of the spreadingtable 50 causes a further disthe ground.` When it is desired to use thewagon bed alone, the conveyer 21, which may be of ordinary link belt, isbroken at any desired point and chains 38 are disconopen at their upperends, as clearly shownin The front board 15, carrying with it shafts 41and 19, and also all the parts in connection therewith, may be'readilyremoved and end board 16, carrying with it 'the' harrow 70 a d theoperating lever 73, as well as' the brackets 62, secured to the insidethereof, removed, and the frame formed of the parts 25, 26and 27,carrying with it Ithe spreading side posts on tothe holsters. l In themodcation, shown 'in Figs. 6 and 7, the side bars 250 run lengthwise-thebed are provided. with bearings for" a'f'shagftj 360 provided-at-eachend witha drivingfwheel 350 like wheels 35. Shaft-360 is provided a gear77 carried by the shaft 2,9"0f roller .30.

be set at such anglev from the horizontal thatf of the vehicle andcarries a continuous stream vintegration of the manure and. causes itto' Y; move downward and slide laterally until it` drops from the rearend of the table upon j table,l and vthe several driving shafts,'may' bereadily removed whereu on, by inserting ordinary end boards in p ace' ofthe end boards 15 and 16, the bed becomes available as an ordinarybox-bed, the peculiar casting; 17 making available the entire lengthofthe ,A bed without waste.' Brackets 12 are removable and the bed dropsvertically between 10 and are similar to bars 25, andf form partof'frame like that comprisingthe-bar 2,5.' Suspended from the sidebar'sf2'v50lare brack' ets 370 which, at or n ear their. lower ends,

Shaft 360 is also providedwith-a gear y78.-

In order to facilitate the turningvof'the I vehicle the friction wheels35vare connected,v to the shaft 36 by a ratchet connection 80, as

In operation the main body of manure is 'j 'I nected from cranks 40.Thereupon slats :'60 may be lifted bodily from their brackets 62, the`pintles 61 lying in sockets 62 which are piojo \Fig. 4, and the members65 are withdrawn]l ll'il with a 'gear 75 connectedy by achaing''with ibrackets 81 carried by a cross-bar 82 pivotally mounted betweendepending brackets 83 carried by the rear end of frame 250. Bar 82 maybe angularly adjusted, through a small angle, by means of a lever 84,said lever being held in any-desired position of adjustment by a pin 85.Journaled in bearings 86 on bar 82, with axes substantially parallelwith the vehicle, are shafts 87 each of which carries at its rear end agear 88' adapted tofmesh with the corresponding gear 89 carried bysha-ft 80. Secured to the rear end of each shaft 87 is a spreader drum90 the main body of which is composed of fingers 91 provided withradially extending teeth 92, and the arrangement being such that therotation of shaft 80, by a forward movement of carrying wheels 11, willcause said drum 90 to rotate in opposite directions from the center, asindicated by arrows in the drawings, a'nd thus throw upwardly and loutwardly any material deposited thereupon,

a portion of the manure dropping directly down through the fingers 91.

In operation: The manure drawn from the bed 10 by the carrier 21 will bedeposited by said carrier upon the drums 90 and said drum, rotating upona substantially horizontal axes in opposite directions, will serve tothrow the manure with considerable force upwardly and transversely .soas to spread the manure over a considerable width of ground. The manurestriking the drum near the medial line of the vehicle will be thrownfarther than that which strikes the drains outside of their medial line,as will be readily'apparent. The throwing action may also be slightlymodified by an angular adjnstmentof bar 83 so that the axes of thedrnms'will be held above or below the normal horizontal position.

The fitting 17 may conveniently be of sufficient length to project abovethe upper edge of the side boards, as shown in Fig. 8,

so as to permit the addition of supplemental side-boards. I preferalsoto hinge the boards to the lower ends of brackets 66, and attach tothe forward ends of said boards 65 a lever 65 by means of which theboard may be swung so as to dump any material which may'lodge thereon.

.I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with a vehicle and thebox-bed thereof, of an endless carrier adapted to traverse the bottom ofsaid bed, a plurality of supporting slats pivotally arranged in said bedabove the carrier in position to normally support the load in the bed,and means for swinging said slats to permit aportion of the load to passbetween the same to the carrier.

2.l The combination, with avehicle and the box-bed thereof comprisingthe side boards, and the remevable end boards, of load supporting slats'arranged in said bed above the bottom thereof, brackets carried by saidremovable end boards, and pivot members carried by said slats andcoperat- 7G ing with said brackets. j

3. The combination, with a vehicle and the box-bed thereof comprisingthe side boards, and tle removable endboards, of

load supporting slats arranged in said bed above the bottom thereof,brackets carried by said removable end boards, pivot meinbers carried bysaid slats and coperating with said brackets, and an endless carrieradapted to traverse the box-bed beneath SO the slats. 1

4f. The combination, with a vehicle and' the box-bed thereof comprisingthe side boards, and the removable end boards, of

load supporting slats arranged in said bed above lthe bottoni thereof,brackets carried by said removable end boards, pivot members carried bysaid slats and coperating with said brackets, an endless carrier adaptedtotraverse the box-bed beneath the slats, brackets carried by one ofsaid removable end boards, and a roller journaled in said brackets andadapted to supportone end of said carrier.

5.v The combination, with a vehicle and 95 the box-bed thereof, of anendless carrier adapted to traverse'the bottom of said bed, a drivingtrain for said carrier, said train comprising a friction wheel adaptedto engage a carrying wheel of the vehicle,` a 10o spring tension devicefor said friction wheel, and means for applying said tension devicecomprising a rotatable shaft carrying a crank having a wrist pinprojecting over a lportion of said shaft, a flexible connection 10bbetween said spring tension member and the wrist pin, and' means forrotating said shaft and holding the same in any desired posi- Qtion.

6. The combination', with a vehicle and 1H) gage a carrying wheel of thevehicle, a 11.5

spring tension device for said friction wheel,

means for applying said tension device come prising a rotatable shaftcarying a crank having a wrist pin projecting over a portion of saidshaft, and atlexible connection between said spring tension memberandthe wrist pin.

7. The combinatiom with a vehicle'and the carrying bed thereof, ofmechanism for discharging the load from said bed, a driving train forsaid discharging mechanism, vsaid driving train comprising a frictionelement, a iiexible tension member for 'said friction element, arotatable shaft provided with an eccentric wrist pin. lying over saidshaft and 'to which wrist pin the tension member is connected, and meansfor rotating said shaft for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination, with a vehicle and the carrying bed thereof providednear its rear end with transverse projections 13', of aframe'coniprising a pair of side bars, adapted to rest upon saidprojections, a cross bar detachably securedto the inner ends of saidside bars Aand passing .beneath the wagon bed, longitudinallyslottedbrackets carried by said side bars, and bolts passing throughsaid slots and engaging the wagon bed, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

9. The combination, with a vehicle andthe carrying bed thereof, of anendless carrier adapted to traverse the bottom of the bed, a removableend board forming part of the wagon bed, and a harrow board adjustablymounted on said end board in position to cooperate with the endlesscarrier.

10. The combination, with a vehicle and the carrying bed thereo`f,.of anendless carrier adapted to traverse the bottom of thel bed, meansarranged within said bed above the carrier for normally supporting themajor portion of the load, a removableend board forming part ofthe wagonbed, and a harrow board adjustably mounted on said end board in positionto cooperate with the endless carrier.

11. The combination, with a vehicle comprising a running gear and a boxbed therefor, of vmeans for vertically adjusting said box-bed consistingof brackets 12 having projcctions ,to st'raddle the bolster and otherprojections to straddle the bolster post and removably mounted upon theholsters ofthe running gear and adapted to support: the box-bed with itsbottom a distance above the tops -offthe holsters, an endless carriermounted -on'said bed 4with its upper' side traversing the bottomA of thebed and its lower side traversing the space between the bottom of thebed and the tops of the holsters. j Y

'12. The combination, with a vehicle,-of a `pair of' rotary throwingdrums mounted upon substantially longitudinalaxes and arranged in theclear in position to receive material from the vehicle, and means forrotating said drums in opposite directions, upper sides outwardly.

13. The combination, with avehicle, of a pair of. rotary throwing drumsmounted 'upon' substantially longitudinal 'axes and arranged in theclear jin position to receive material from the vehicle, means foradjust- :insane ing the said axesslightly from the vhorizontal and meansfor rotating said drums in opposite directions upper sides outwardly.

14. The combination, with a vehicle, and

tachably connected to said box. bed, saidl frame comprising a pair ofside bars and a cross bar adapted to pass beneathI the box-l bed andconnecting the forward ends of said side bars, a pair of rotary drumscarried by the rear yend of' said frame upon substantially longitudinalaxes and a driving train between the traction wheels of the` vehicle andsaid drums for rotating'sald drums.

16. The combination, with a vehicle, and the box-bed thereof, of aspreader frame detachably connected to said box bed, a pair of rotarydrums carried by the rear end of said frame upon substantiallylongitudinal axes,

means for shifting said axes slightly from.

the horizontal and a driving train between the traction wheels of thevehicle and said drums for rotating said drums.'

17. Thecombination, with a vehicle, and the box-bed thereof, of aspreader frame detachably connected to said box-bed, said framecomprising a pair of side bars and a cross bar adapted to pass beneaththe box bed and connecting the forward ends lof Said side bars, a pairvof rotary drums carried by the rear end of said framel 'uponsubstantially longitudinal axes, means for shifting Said axes slightlyfrom the horizontal and a driving train between the traction wheels ofthe vehicle and said drums for rotating said drums.

18. The combination, with the box-bed of a vehicle, of a supplementalbottom plate extending lengthwise of the bed and hingedly connected tothe lower ends of' hangers adapted to be supported by the sides of thebox-bed.

In witness whereof, Lfhave hereunto set my hand and seal at Veedersburg,Indiana,

sov

this 8 day of June, A. D. one thousand nine .hundred and seven.

GEORGE W. CRANE. [1.. s] Witnesses:

SAMUEL-J. LUDLow, GEORGE ,MINICIL

